Daijiworld Media Network – Florida

Florida, Sep 14: In a dramatic show of courage, a Florida woman fought off a five-foot alligator to rescue her four-month-old puppy from the reptile’s jaws.

Danie Wright of Land O’ Lakes was walking her pup Dax behind her house when the gator lunged from the water and grabbed the dog’s collar. “I heard a squeal, and I got pulled. The alligator had him by his collar and dragged him, and I wasn’t gonna let go,” Wright told local station WTSP.

She said the alligator came about 15 feet out of the water. Acting on instinct, Wright repeatedly punched the reptile in the eye until it released Dax. “I just punched him, punched and punched. I punched him in the eye enough that he kind of let go, he unclamped a little, and I pulled off,” she said.

While Dax escaped unharmed, Wright suffered bite wounds and is recovering. Florida Fish and Wildlife officers later trapped and removed the alligator. “Just be careful with your dogs, you know these alligators are no joke,” Wright warned.

In a separate incident in New Orleans, a 12-year-old autistic boy died after an alligator attack. His mother, Hilda Vasquez, 34, was arrested on charges of negligent homicide and second-degree cruelty to juveniles after authorities said she failed to prevent the tragedy. An autopsy found the child died from blunt force trauma and drowning.